St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-09

AETtgB at shd df Si5 %s+y' il T %sn!
@ $ $;sa * II $$ y s ,$;;S
n .Iyvr7yo =, ,--1 may reasonably be
2 iTTSST.SssI regarded as purely
z-sS accidental have an
inevitable determin-
ing influence, for good OF evil: upon the
character aud career of individual men
and Women.SrE rem this source arise the
many curious and often ridiculous SUI
perStions connected with our daily life.
superstitfens which even well educated
and by no means credulOuS people are
wholly unable to shake off.
If YOU have the good sense and the
courage to protest against the abSurdi-
ties OF popular belief, and endeavOr to
rid men of the Inconvenience and suf-
fering (Which it notinfreQuently leads,
you will often find that you have under
taken thankleSS mission. y not un
common phrase even with some wonld-
be enlightened persons is: 'Oh, well,
there is nothing in it, of course, but it is
Just as well to act as if there were; then
you run no risks"
One meets with superstition every
where. You cannot step out of doors
without rubbing against it," says re-
cent writer, who furnishes some of the
instances to which we shall refer.
Those who are really enlightened laugh
at it. of course: but the unenlightened?
Well, they lend a willing ear to the tales
their great-grandmotherS told, and anX-
iously avoid everything that they fear
may bring disaster or bad luck. 1t is
really astonishing, when one thinks of
it, to see how luXuriouSly the weeds of
lot. n
in spite of all Influences of higher re-
ligion and purer morality.
CONCERNING CHILDREN.
The day of ones birth is no doubt an
: occasion of interest to ones immediate
! surroundings, to the progenitOrS eS-
! peciaily. But4that the particular day
z of the week on which the birth takes
place determines the character and for
tune of the child is an assumption hoary
: with age. Children born on Sunday are
) said to have thepower of second sight or
cfairvoyancy. II a newborn babe has a
particularly old look you can conclude
I that it will not live to grow up. If you
have its picture taken before it is year
old it will meet with the same sad fate.
The same is said Of children who are al
lowed to play with flowers or who are
taken inside a cemetery at this early
period of1lfe .FurthermOre,a child. under
twelve months must not be allowed to
see its image in looking glass for fear
of its becoming vain later in life. If
you look over a child'S head it will not
grow any more If little children kiss
each other before they can speak they
will never learn anything. If lit
tie daughter resembles her mother she
will never have a particle of good luck
in all her life. If a baby-girl is given its
1notbpr-S no,On If will not 1.-Two Tho
same is said of son who is named
after his father. If, in spite of all the
threatening perils of infancy and youth.
in spite of all bad OmenS and evil Spir-
its, the child has grown to maturity, a
whole world of dangers will open be-
fore him, and he must learn to read
many signs and portents if he wishes to
keep the good luck that has thus far at
tended him.
UNLUCKY DAYS.
If young man wishes to succeed in
business he will not make his begin
ming on Monday, though in Ireland, it
must be added, this IS considered an
suspicious day, while in the north of
Scotland the mere mention of Mon
day the first time in a COM
pany may bring bad luck.
Friday, of course, is a day of ill
omen, on which no new work must be
commenced. Even among the Brah-
Minis this feeling prevailed, and it has
probably come down to us as part of
our Aryan Inheritance. An old rhym-
ing proverb says: Fridays noon, come
when it will, comes too soon.'' Sir
Thomas Oyerbury, i'll his Character OF
a Milkmaid," says: s'1er dreams are
so chaste that she dare tell them, only a
Fridays dream is all her superstition
that she cOncealS for fear of ANGER
Saturday is also inauSpicious. DR..
Jameson, in his chronological Die
tionary of the Scottish Language 81
quotes ''Abp. Hamiltoun'S CatechiSme''
of the year 155l as saying:
'Certane crafts men will nOcht be-
gin their worke on Satterday, certane
shipmen Or marinarS will not begin to
sail on the Satterday, certane travellers
will not begin their jorney on the Sat
terday, quhilk is plane superstition, be-
cause God Almvchty made the Satter-
day. as well as He made all other davis
of the weake:"
The good archbishop was, however,
not very successful in his war upon the
credulities of his time, for he had the
misfortune TO be hanged for his opill-
IONS, and Saturday is still regarded as
an unlucky day. not only in many parts
of Scotland, but in other civilized cOun-
tries. So i'll regard to Sunday, if one is
taken sick, he must on no account go to
bed on that day; if he does he will never
leave it again; neither must he get up
again for the first time on Friday. So
also it is an old saying that GONZALES
cence on Sunday is good for nothing: it
leads to death.
The superstition in regard to days is,
as we have already indicated, ancient
and clinical. The Greeks received if
from the Egyptians. and they from the
Chaldeans. HeSiod already gave happy
expression to it in the verses:
Some days, like sturdy step-dames, adverse
prove,
Thwart our intentions, cross whate'er we
love;
Others more fortunate and lucky shine.
And, as a tender mother, bless what we de.
sign.
EATING, SLEEPING AND DRINKING.
Our meals are seasoned with the same
nonsense. If one upsetS the salt he
will shed many tears; so If he lays knife
and fork across each other; if you are
single. and are the first one to cut into
the butter, you must wait seven years to
be married; If you sit at the sharp cor
ner of the table you will have a hump.
backed wife. At the change of the year
dishes made of granny substances are
preferred; it is 4 sign of money. So
The first meal of a newly-married couple
should consist of granu1ous food. 1t is
considered great wrong to give away
the end of a loaf of bread, as It is to lay
loaf which has been cut with the cut
side upon the table. If you lay it upon
the bed it will rest, so will your bust
ness; so in regard TO tools or nipple
meMts of any kind.
If you would sleep sound and peace
fully, the head of the bed must face the
east; but Oh no account must the foot lie